LIBERTY COUNSEL

Liberty Counsel Print Page Adjust Font Size: About Us Donate Online Store Press Page Contact Us Press Release October 15, 2012 VP Biden Was Wrong – ObamaCare HHS Mandate Collides with Religious Freedom www.LC.org Washington, DC – Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, ObamaCare will for the first time require employers and individuals to directly fund abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception. This mandate collides with religious freedom and the rights of conscience. Vice President Joe Biden’s assessment of ObamaCare’s impact on religious liberties was inaccurate at best and misleading at worst. During the Vice Presidential debate, Biden said, “[L]et me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer for contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact.” “This is not a fact,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The ObamaCare mandate requires nearly every religious organization and business owner to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs, despite the fact that this will violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agrees. In a press release issued the day after the Vice Presidential debate, the Conference, composed of all active and retired leaders of the Catholic church, said, “The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain ‘religious employers’…[but it] does not extend to ‘Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mer.......